In December, P. Sawyer and I took a second trip to Tree Hill and here is our documentation. Whooopsies for the delay. Enjoy! :)
Day One:
Welp, we left from Greer at 6 o’clock this morning and arrived in Wilmington at approximately 1:30 this afternoon…after taking a 100 mile detour of which we were completely unaware of until we were approaching Charleston. Needless to say, we got a totally tour of every beach in South Carolina. A 5-hour trip became a 7-hour trip with just one missed turn. That WOULD happen to us, haha! Jesus was protecting us from something, and we are certain of that…and thankful!
When we first got to Wilmington, we decided to drive by Tric just to check it out andddd the crew and cast were there FILMING! One word: JACKPOT!!! We grabbed our tailgating chairs, and waited patiently for someone to notice us. While we were waiting, we got to meet a few of the crew guys that work on the set-which was awesome! Our favorite crew member was Russell-he helped us out a LOT by giving us the locations for filming for the rest of the week. He also said our favorite quote of the day…we asked what Roudabush was (the place where they’re filming on Thursday) and his response was, “I don’t know, they sell seeds and sh*t.” Bahahaha, classic! He made our whole day, and I’m still laughing about it!
Five hours later, India de Beaufort (Miranda) and Michael Grubbs (Grubbs) walked across the street to visit with us for a few minutes! They were so nice and acted like we were best friends! We had met India in August when we came, and she was just as sweet this time as last time! We love love LOVE her!
About another hour passed before filming came to an end for the day, and then Jana Kramer (Alex) came over to visit with her boyfriend (Jonathan Shaech, from That Thing You Do and Prom Night), and we were flipping out! Jana was SO excited to hear that we liked her character; she kept saying “Really?! Aww, that makes me so happy!!!” Needless to say, that only made us love her more!
When Jana and Jonathan left the set, we walked over towards Tric and waited to talk to any crew members that could have possibly given us a tour of the building. Melanie saved the day by seeking this one girl out…who then led us into TRIC! I was so excited I tripped and fell off the sidewalk. It wouldn’t be a Wilmington experience without my clumsy self flopping all over the place! We walked up the stairs, and BAM!!!! There was Tric! The bar, the stage, the merchandise table, the tables, the chairs…EVERYTHING was INCREDIBLE! We even got to leave the building by walking down the stairs on the side of the building; the same ones we “trespassed” to climb in August, haha! Shhh, that can be our little secret!
Immediately following our Tric tour, we headed to the car to find a restroom…it was our first potty break since 11 o’clock this morning! We had to GO!
And now, we are currently laying on the bed, reminiscing about our extraordinary first day…in our ONSIES! If someone were to ask me what the perfect day would be, I would say this one, of course!
Day Two:
Well, day two of our trip wasn’t nearly as eventful…but still not disappointing! We started off the day right by waking up at 10:30 a.m., which is the latest I have slept in about a month! It was heavenly!! After getting ourselves all dolled up, we embarked on our journeys for the day.
When we came to Wilmy in August, I signed a table where Haley tutored Nathan for the first time (when he gave her bracelet and said, “Don’t say I never gave you anything,” which is one of my faaaavorite lines of the whole series! My initials were gone when we went to find them, soooo I re-signed of course! Only this time, I made sure it would stay there by signing with permanent marker!
Poodles is a store right beside The George that sells Tree Hill stuff, so we made a stop in there for a few minutes! Melanie got a super cute bag that says “Ravens” and I got a shirt with the same logo on it! They are CUTEEEEE! After Poodles, we went to CD Alley, which is the store Peyton always goes to when she buys new vinyl records. I bought the new John Mayer CD, which is uh-may-zing!! Even more so because of where I got it!
Since we were in the Peyton mood, we drove to the corner of 19th and Chestnut St., where her house is! Haley’s house is also at the corner, which was PERFECT because we both got to see our own houses, haha! We were hoping we could get the owners to invite us in, buttttt that didn’t happen…so we just took more pictures instead! After visiting our homes, we went to Screen Gems to see if the cast was still there filming…andddd they were, so we stalked for a few moments! It’s basically impossible to see the characters when they film in the studio, so we decided to go to Lucas’ bridge for a few pictures! This time, we tested our inner hardcore nerves and got out of the car to take pictures on the bridge (it’s in a bad neighborhood, so last time we chickened out!). A creeper was walking on the bridge while we were taking pictures, so we headed back to the car for a few minutes until he passed. Then, we got even more gutsy and went under the bridge, which is where Brooke and Peyton used to hang out when they were kids. We felt super macho, haha!
Our next destination was in Wrightsville Beach, on the bridge where Clay and Sarah jumped off in an earlier episode this season (“On 2…1, 2…”)! We only stayed there for a few minutes, and then headed back to downtown Wilmington. We took a few pictures in front of the Clothes Over Bros set, then searched around for a Hookah bar! I have wanted to smoke hookah for a little while now, and I was determined to do it TODAY! And ta-da, we found one! We tried the watermelon flavor, and it wasn’t too bad…until I got a KILLER headache and felt nauseous. I know I know, I’m so hardcore. Bahaha, oh geeeez! At least now I can knock smoking because I’ve tried it, ha! While we were sitting there, this man walked up and wanted to make us roses out of palm leaves (like the ones in Charleston). Melanie bought one, and he gave one to me because he said he couldn’t let one girl have one without the other one having one, too. What a gentleman!
Once we decided we had had enough of the hookah experience, we started walking back towards our car. We passed a bar, and there was a guy standing at the door. He said “Hey ladies,” and we said hey as well. The next thing we know, he is chasing us down the sidewalk! We stopped and he proceeded to look me in the eyes for the next five minutes and tell me how beautiful I was. He said, “You are the most beautiful creation I have ever seen. I have been all over the place, Iraq, Afghanistan, all over America, and I have never seen anyone as beautiful as you are. I saw you and I was like ‘WOW!’ You were so beautiful I had to chase you down the road to tell you so.” Bahahaha, talk about awkward!!! I was wearing a ring on my left ring finger, and I guess he assumed that I was engaged or married, and he was like, “I see your ring, so I won’t try anything. But please know that you are so beautiful.” He even looked and Melanie and said, “Just look at her. She is so beautiful.” Then Chris (of course he introduced himself, haha) shook my hand, kissed it, and watched us walk away. That was by FAR the funniest part of the day!!!!
We were headed to Kilwin’s for some ice cream before Chris stopped us, and then we found they were already closed when we got there. Epic fail. We were almost in tears, haha! We got some coffee from Port City Java instead, so we were still satisfied! We realized that after 6 o’clock, downtown Wilmington is DEAD unless you’re in a bar. And well, since I’m not 21 and we weren’t looking to hang out in the streets, we made the executive decision to come back to the hotel room, put on our onesies, and watch Home Alone.
Even though today wasn’t as wonderful as yesterday, it is still considered a success in our view! Can’t wait till tomorrow!! We’re headed to TopSail!
Day Three:
It is safe to say that this day had its ups and its down! We got up at 5:30 and were on the road at 6:30, headed to Topsail for some filming! It was a bit of an adventure for an hour or so, because we couldn’t find Clay’s beach house, which was where filming was taking place all day. We asked around and a lady named Nancy was finally able to help us! She was an extra back in November, and she was familiar with the area. Turns out, we were right on top of it at one point, and didn’t go quite far enough!
Once we parked and walked toward the set, a police officer told us that the best way to get to the actors was to hang out around base camp, which was about ¼ of a mile away from where they were filming. The vans passed by us without fail, but we had no luck with getting the actors to come over. We were sitting in front of a hotel, so we went in a couple of times to use their restroom. The first time I went in, the lady at the front desk asked, “Are you the girl that’s camped out on our lawn?” Bahaha, we had officially been identified as creepers!
After 8 hours of no response from the actors at ALL, we decided to walk back towards Clay’s house. A different police officer greeted us when we first walked up, and he told us that the best place for us to watch was right beside the house on a crosswalk. This was the moment we realized that the other cop just wanted us out of the way. Thanks to him, we missed every single scene being filmed. Truth be told, I’m still a little mad about it! UGH!!! Nevertheless, we staked out on the crosswalk and waited for the final scene to come to an end.
While we were standing there, two crew members walked up on the crosswalk and assessed the weather for the next scene. They walked off a few minutes later after we made small talk, and then one of the guys brought us back some hot chocolate! We thought that was the coolest thing ever!! Screen Gems, we love you! Haha! Then another crew member with two dogs walked passed to walk out onto the beach. As he was passing, he said, “Watch out; famous dog coming through.” He then proceeded to tell us that he was the guy who jogged passed Clay right after Dan “baptized” him earlier this season. SWEET!! His name was Jim, and of course we got a picture with him!
Just a few minutes after we walked back to our designated stake-out spot, a crew member told us that they had just wrapped and the actors were about to leave. He showed us the best spot to stand in order to get pictures and autographs, and we were OH SO thankful! Clay and Quinn’s van pulled right up next to us and they hopped out! Clay said, “Wanna take a few quick pictures?” And of course we jumped on that like there was no tomorrow! Being wedged in between Shantel and Robert was the best five seconds of my lifeeeee!
As they were leaving, Shantel (Quinn) said, “Thank you for hanging out with us for the day! Sorry we have to rush off!” That was incredibleeeee!! Now if only Joy and James would flippin’ acknowledge us! BAHHHH!
Right after that, we started walking back towards my car. Did I mention that is was like ZERO degrees outside all day long? And we were basically ice cubes by the time we got out of the cold? Anyways, we walked back, got in the car, and started to pull out of the parking lot. And what would happen? Why, the gate would be CLOSED, of course. There was a note on my car that said I wouldn’t be able to move my car until morning when it opened back up. Really?! I mean, that would only happen to us! So, we got out of the car are jolted back to the set to catch the cop before he left. We made it there in record time, and the police officer called another officer to meet us at the parking lot to let us out. WHEW!!! Talk about a blessing! Jesus was most definitely looking out for us tonight!!
We left Topsail and an hour later, we were back in Wilmington! We had our first real meal of the day (mmmm, Subway!) and headed back to the hotel room. And now? Happy Feet to wind down! Can’t wait to sleep in tomorrow morning and finish our trip up strong! YAY!!
Day Four:
On our final day in Wilmington (tear!) we woke up at about 9:30 and checked out of the hotel around 10:30. Our first stop was the Rivercourt, which was gross! There were puddles of water everywhere and the court itself looked very worn-down. Right after we left, we drove by Hilarie's house & her Range Rover was parked in front of it! Her address will be ingrained in my mind forever!! After we lingered there for a little while, we went to The Reel Cafe for lunch. This was the set they used for Brooke’s first job at the crab place! Melanie got sex on the beach…but no worries, she’s not an alcoholic or anything. HAHA!!
Our next stop was Kilwin's!!! We were so disappointed that this was our first trip, but they closed so early everyday that this was the first chance we had. The girl who took our order called her sister a “stank behind” for skipping school and we just about died of laughter!!! So funny! We ate our ice cream and walked along Boardwalk and found the spot where Everly scene took place, with Joy and Grace Potter!
When we finished walking around, we went back to Hilarie's to stalk some more! This time we saw Nick Gray (who does all the SoGoPro podcasts!!) leave her house AHH!! And we followed him down the street for a while until we lost him haha! Instead of continuing to search for him, we just decided to walk around downtown some more. We went to the Cotton Exchange, and got stuck talking to this creepy guy that worked at a store called Ping Tibet. Weeeeeeird!! Then we sat on a bench in front of Roudabush to scope out when they were going to start filming! We walked to base camp, which was at 2nd & Dock St! We talked to one of the van drivers named Reggie, and he gave us some inside tips!! He told us the actors weren’t there yet, so we decided to walk to the car and put more money in the meter. When we were walking toward the car, Melanie had a heart attack….which was because she had spotted HILARIE BURTON!!!!! We stalled for as long as we could so we could meet her, and then she finally got out of her car! We told her how big of fans we are of her, and she stuck around and talked for us for like five minutes! We were FREAKINGGGG OUT!!! We got pictures with her and everything! BEST. DAY. EVERY!!!!!!!
Still freaking out, we walked to a little coffee shop right in front of Roudabush, and we were in the best moods ever!! Seriously! We admired pictures like a million times while just sitting there!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!
We finally left the coffee shop and staked out on a corner in front of set! A crazy drunk guy causing a disturbance kept saying "I'm doing society a favor!" and thennnnn he got arrested! HAHA!!! The crew guys walked over to us while we were sitting at The Reel Cafe, and we FINALLY took a picture with Russell!!! I also took one with Paul and Bill….and Paul, well, he enjoyed it a little too much! HA! Then out of nowhere, Jen waved us over across the street because Shantel came over pre-filming!!!!!! We got pictures with her, and discussed cow scene! Hahahaha, it was all of our favorites!!! She told us she would send Bess (Lydia) over to take pictures after filming!
We stood around right across the street and got to see some filming thru windows for about 2 hours, and chatted it up with Paul mostly. Andddd he invited us to spend the night with him bahahaha!! He said I’ve got locks on the doors, and we could drink some wine, beer, whatever you want…” All I have to say about that is…man-whore!!!We kept talking to him, though haha! He led us in front of the store and explained filming techniques! When we walked back around to the side, a razy girl with make-up blackened eyes and ripped fishnet stockings walked past us downtown with two guys. Sketccchhhhh!!! Then a creepy old guy walked up to us and asked us if we like wine and turkish beer. He then proceeded to tell us about his step-mom: "she my stepmom, well, she might as well be" Bahahaha!!! Craaaaazy people!
Filming wrapped and the crew told us to walk up a block to base camp to meet Lydia and Quinn, so we did!!!! Bess was precious and called us adorable, and she loved Melanie mentioning the quote about Haley smoking crack from season 2! We were able to take individual pictures with Shantel, and even a sandwich picture!!!
We had to get gas, so we stopped in at South of the Border. Little did we know we would meet the biggest drug dealer in the area….awesome. The lady who rang us up was crazy too!! Note to self: never go back there again! We finally arrived home at 2 o'clock! ACHAAA!!!!